


With a Wand and a Will

by Morgyn Leri (morgynleri)



Series: The Travel Collection: Drabbles, Snippets, and Supershorts [15]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universes, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-23
Updated: 2013-05-23
Packaged: 2017-12-12 17:21:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/814064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morgynleri/pseuds/Morgyn%20Leri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Supershorts written in the Harry Potter fandom, mostly revolving around more minor characters, or using original characters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Their Way

**Author's Note:**

> There are three, possibly four AUs in this collection so far, depending on if one reads the two about Millicent as one AU or two very similar AUs.

She is high above the pitch, the wind ice cold and sharp as a knife as she watches and waits to see the glint of gold that is the snitch. Her rival sits several feet distant, watching as intently as her. There will be dives and loops and fierce contest to see who gets it first, and they will be respectful of each other - if always, always adversaries - in the eyes of the public after.

And when there is quiet and privacy, they will be a far cry from their public image, if as passionate and fierce. It is their way, and neither would wish it any other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the prompt "wind".
> 
> Originally posted as part of [The Travel Collection](http://archiveofourown.org/works/439754), in the chapter [Sky-Song](http://archiveofourown.org/works/439754/chapters/1471349).


	2. A Cure

Dudley looked out over the sea from the top of the cliff, unconcerned by the moonlight pouring over him, though most in his position would be worried by the fact of the full moon. The only werewolf nearby, after all, was well-dosed with wolfsbane, and content to drowse in the cottage behind him.

A pop announced the arrival of the man who'd approached him with the idea - the dream - that has him out here watching over Lupin.

"How is Professor Lupin doing?" Draco Malfoy hadn't exactly been friendly at Hogwarts, but that perhaps made them good allies for their little project. It certainly made it simpler to keep others from guessing what they're up to, since no one expected them to work together willingly.

"Sleeping. Probably will all night." Dudley shrugged, turning his back on the ocean. "He didn't so much as whimper during the transformation, so at least there's that working." It wasn't what they had hoped for, but it was better than the setbacks they'd had at some points in this project.

"He still changed." Draco grimaced, and ran a hand through his fair hair. "Is there any other change that can be made to the potion itself?"

"Not without killing Professor Lupin." Dudley had refined the potion under Snape's watchful eye during his last year at Hogwarts, as far as it could be without destroying it's effectiveness as a treatment. "And I can't safely combine any other potions with it that might ameliorate other symptoms, either."

Which left them still searching for the refinement of spellwork that would achieve at least the goal of preventing the transformation altogether, without sacrificing the mental faculties of a werewolf. It might not remove the curse, it might not prevent the transmission of it, but their hope is to find a cure, eventually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the prompt "cove".
> 
> Originally posted as part of [The Travel Collection](http://archiveofourown.org/works/439754), in the chapter [Ocean's Edge](http://archiveofourown.org/works/439754/chapters/749690).


	3. More Personal

The house is nestled in a garden grown riotous first with the lack of attention, and then by deliberate design, and all around, the plants drip with damp from the fog that had rolled in that morning. It suits Millicent just fine, and allows her the illusion that she's far from civilization, hidden in a forest or mountain valley. Or indeed, anywhere but in England, in the home she'd not particularly cared for growing up.

At least her parents are dead, and she doesn't have to listen to her mother scold her for her lack of marriage prospects, or endure her father's patient lectures on how she just needs to apply herself more to learning a trade, since she's clearly not going to be able to catch a man who'll provide for her properly.

A soft snort escapes her, and the cat in her lap looks up for a moment before butting her hand in demand for her to continue petting it. She has the house, owned by her family for generations, and she has enough money in the vault to live modestly with a few cats. The one neatly-kept garden on the property provides enough for potions and vegetables, and sometimes even some spare to sell to the local Muggles or wizards.

Some of her classmates might wonder at that, and ask where the Slytherin ambition was in her. But they assume ambition for power is the only ambition that a Slytherin will ever show - much to the annoyance of some of her former House-mates, and Millicent herself. Her ambition isn't for power, isn't for glory, but for a life outside of a traditional role of a pure-blood woman.

And so she spurns marriage offers or a Ministry career. She disdains motherhood or society life. She lives quietly in her house, keeps her cats, and grows herbs and vegetables. She goes out from the wizarding world into the Muggle one to sell her produce, and to attend a Muggle university, and to learn what she can of how their society works. And then she brings some of the good ideas she sees home, and she does what she can - a little at a time, and without the oversight of the Ministry, thank you - to help those who cannot help themselves for trying.

There's a satisfaction there, to change the world, to make sure that she will be remembered well, and that maybe it will help people remember that Slytherins aren't inherently evil, but just motivated by something more personal than the "greater good".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the prompt "rain".
> 
> Originally posted as part of [The Travel Collection](http://archiveofourown.org/works/439754), in the chapter [A Misty Veil](http://archiveofourown.org/works/439754/chapters/1276502).


	4. What Must Be Done

The gardens are overgrown, the house hidden by a veritable forest of old trees that provide shade and a safe place for a young woman to hide from her mother as easily as she had when a small child. Millicent prefers to hide in the old barn at the edge of the property the family claims, but right now, she can't risk her mother looking down there and finding out just who Millicent has been avoiding meeting proper pure-blood prospects in favor of.

Her mother would murder Jack and Kylie, even though Millicent has no interest in either one of them as more than a friend. That they're Muggles is enough of an excuse for Millicent's mother, and that they're more interesting to Millicent than any pure-blood boy would only make it worse. So she hides in the trees, and lets herself be found more easily than she likes, and she pretends to listen to the lecture about a good marriage.

She's never going to marry, and as soon as her mother finally dies, she'll be free to visit with her friends as often as she wishes without risking their lives. She'll be able to do whatever she wants without the threat of parental disapproval hanging over her head. And that is enough to keep her doing what she must to keep her mother happy until the old harpy dies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the prompt "tree".
> 
> Originally posted as part of [The Travel Collection](http://archiveofourown.org/works/439754), in the chapter [Branching From the Center](http://archiveofourown.org/works/439754/chapters/1539051).
> 
> **OCs for this story/AU:**
> 
> Jack and Kylie - a pair of Muggles who live in the village nearest the Bulstrode family home, and met Millicent when all three were very young and sneaking away from parents and other caretakers to play in an old barn that's on an unwarded part of Bulstrode property. Used very often when I'm playing with Millicent in short stories or crossovers.


End file.
